Steps taken to limit erosion in one Lake County community seem to be working? -- so far.

Officials in Madison Township have spent years taking proactive measures to protect township-owned property on the lakefront from whatever Mother Nature throws its way.

Madison Township Administrator Larry Advey said thanks to money received from the state, the township was able to make these necessary improvements -- especially to Madison Township Park.

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"Because of the issues that happened in North Perry Village, we've had some different requirements put upon the township for the building process, sand monitoring and potentially having to bypass sand because of the issues with North Perry Village," Advey said.

This stems from a battle between North Perry Village and Madison Township residents regarding erosion on their properties.

In 2011, residents who live along the lake blamed construction of a marina in 2009 at the village's Townline Park as the reason for their private beaches disappearing.

North Perry Village Mayor and Council President Ed Klco always have vehemently denied the project was the cause of these erosion problems.

The project in Madison Township dates back about six years ago when the township received about $200,000 of Ohio Capital Budget Bill funds. Because of what the project entailed, Advey said that amount wasn't enough. So three years later, the township received another $300,000 from the state.

The money was used to construct three new breakwaters on Lake Erie. They are about 100 feet offshore and constructed completely of armor stone. Advey said one of these stones can weigh as much as 4 tons.

"It's very shallow down at Township Park, it's only about 3 feet deep in normal water depths and they channel into the shale and dig a key in there with a backhoe and set the stone in there."

Before the installation of the new breakwaters, Advey said there were about 60 "round concrete modules." Some of them were in the water, while others were on the beach. They were broken and had reinforcing bars sticking out of them. Advey estimates they had been there since the 1980s.

Advey added the new breakwaters held up to the massive waves conjured up by the remnants of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29.

"The good thing is the breakwaters withstood the storm," Advey said. "So, we're happy about that."

Some of the other improvements at Madison Township Park include a new boat ramp at a cost of about $115,000. Last year, the township obtained a Community Development Block Grant in the ballpark of $44,000 to replace the roof, along with being able to level off the concrete floor of the pavilion.

This year, Advey said they have applied for and were approved for another Community Development Block Grant, this time in the amount of $20,000 to construct an American With Disabilities Act-compliant ramp and steps from the park to the beach.